


It all Started With the Underpants

by refrigeratormagnets



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Family stuff is complicated, High School AU, Humanstuck, I'm not even gonna try to explain it properly, M/M, No Smut, more tags will be added as things happen and stuff, sorry for that i guess, trans!Dave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7061635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/refrigeratormagnets/pseuds/refrigeratormagnets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New school year, even more bullying for Karkat Vantas. Until a new face appears and changes it all.<br/>Dave Strider has been slowly becoming more isolated and his savior is the last person anybody would expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Karkat Has His Name Stitched Into His Underwear

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so hopefully this'll update about once a week. More or less. Uh so I hate to be "that guy" but rosemary is sort of a back ground ship and honestly I'm really sorry but that's just how it worked out. Don't hate the player hate the game. I don't think that implies here but honestly, who cares. Also, I have no fucking clue how long this will be. Hopefully not that long. Sorry for any spelling errors. Also there's a weird perspective switch that happens don't get confused...This took forever. Hopefully, you like it. Tell me if you like it. Keep it to yourself if you don't. Okay.

It was the first day of tenth grade for a small boy by the name of Karkat Vantas. The last bell of the day rang and he was the last out of the room. He tried to avoid the big crowds that accumulated. By the time he got out of the classroom, the halls were baren.

He started walking down what he thought was an empty hall, only to be shoved against a the wall by two passing boys. He could barely make out their laughter through the ringing in his ears. He stayed on the floor until the ringing stopped and the boys were long gone. 

Karkat stepped out and squinted in the light. He was getting a headache already. He rolled up his sleeves and started walking home. Before he could take another step, however, he spotted the flagpole in his peripheral vision. He looked up at what was waving in the slight breeze. That was no flag. That was…

“OH WHAT THE FUCK!” Karkat shouted up at the pole. Swaying there were his underpants. How did they even get those? “WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK!” 

He plopped down hard on the pavement and just looked up helplessly. He had to get them down somehow. But he was short and scrawny and had little to no upper-body strength. It was sad how weak this kid looked. He could injure somebody, sure, but what would be the point of punching this pole? What he needed right now was strength in his arms and legs. Or a knight in shining armor…

In a way, that’s exactly what Karkat got.

A boy with straight blond hair walked up to the pole. He had sunglasses resting on his face, red converse, black jeans, a red flannel, and a simple t-shirt with some sort of scratched disk on it. 

Before Karkat had time to fully comprehend his sudden appearance, the boy was climbing up the pole with the most amazing agility Karkat had ever seen. If he was a moron, which he wasn’t, he would have guessed this kid had super powers. But he wasn’t, so he didn’t. 

Suddenly, the boy was at the top, grabbing Karkat’s undergarments and sliding down with amazing speed and agility. By the time he reached the ground, he had a grin on his smug face. He held out the article of clothing for Karkat to take.

“Hey, I’m Dave. Dave Strider,” his voice was somewhat monotone and deadpan, yet a small amount of sweetness hidden in it. He was covered head to toe in small freckles. So many freckles. His straight hair was slightly tousled from the breeze. His shades covered his eyes. Karkat thought they looked pretty douchey. His thin mouth was upturned slightly in the corner. His nose was somewhat larger than normal, as well. And he was about six inches taller than Karkat. 

 

Karkat was too busy memorizing every detail of his face to realize the awkward silence that had rested between them. Dave was waiting patiently for him to take his underwear back. He had to say something and get his underwear back. Something that wouldn’t embarrass him and make this kid hate him. Something sensible and smart, but not pretentious. 

“Stop touching my underwear, perv!” Karkat yelled, probably almost busting Dave’s eardrums and snatching his boxers out of his freckle-covered hands. Nailed it. 

With Karkat’s blush somehow getting even more noticeable, he turned around and tried running away. But before he could, Dave spoke up.

“Bye, Karkat!” 

He turned around slowly, boxers in his small pale hands. 

“How the fuck do you know my name?” He was sure he hadn’t said it.

“It’s stitched into you boxers,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

With his face getting redder with every passing second, Karkat successfully got the fuck out of there. 

When Karkat reached his cozy dwelling place, he fell face first onto his bed and let out a muffled scream. Karkat Vantas: Screaming Extraordinaire, is what his friends called him. Not really. Sometimes he called himself that in his head and then immediately became repulsed with himself. 

He had just embarrassed himself in front of someone who seemed to be the last one at his school that didn’t hate his guts that he wasn’t somehow related to. Sure he had a couple friends, but he was pretty sure they hated him too. 

He made a total fool of himself in front of someone who was, admittedly, cute. Karkat was suddenly twenty times more repulsed by his thoughts. 

Just then, his elder sister walked in. Well, he was not related to her, per se, he was adopted. The family that adopted him, the Maryams, were muslim, so Karkat’s extremely pale skin made it obvious he wasn't blood related to them. But to him, the Maryams were his blood relatives. 

“Karkat, is everything alright?” Kanaya asked, pronouncing each word clearly. She wore a jade green hijab over a long-sleeved black shirt. She also wore a hand-stitched red skirt. It was her favorite. 

“Peachy,” Karkat responded in a grunt, face firmly planted in the linen of his sheets.

Kanaya sat beside him on his bed and placed a delicate hand on his back, rubbing it in a circle to calm him down. 

“How was your first day of your sophomore year?” She questioned like a loving mother, which she basically was. Her green lips curled into a comforting smile. 

Karkat answered with a long groan before repositioning himself into a small ball on her lap, which was what he normally did when he had a bad day. Which was often.

She patted his back. 

“Mother is making your favorite,” she told him. “And Porrim has begun to knit you a brand new sweater. And I met the nicest girl today in my English class.”

Kanaya was the best at cheering him up. He stood up, rubbed at the bags under his eyes and pushed his black locks behind his ears. 

“Thanks, Kanaya,” he said before walking out the room to get dinner. 

 

~~~

Dave Strider hit his alarm and stumbled out of bed. However, he would never admit he ever did anything except for strut. He slid his shades up the bridge of his nose and pulled on his black jeans. He pulled on his black binder before putting on a long sleeved red shirt, with another short sleeved red shirt over that. He also put on his red hoodie to tie up his ensemble, that really showed off his obsession with the color red. He grabbed a piece of toast and pulled on his ratty red converse. He was out the door before any of his family was up yet. He was standing in the cold, forty-five minutes earlier than what was necessary. 

He found himself sitting at the bus stop, listening to music until he felt a warm body press up against him. Before he knew what was happening, he was wrapped in a rib-crushing hug by none other than Jade Harley. 

“Hey, cool guy!” she said, dreadlocks falling over her eyes. He slid his headphones off of his ears and around his neck. 

“Harley. Where’s Egdork?” he asked. John Egbert was Jade’s twin brother. Nobody asked how they were twins, yet had different last names. Jade pointed behind her where no other than John was walking toward the bench. 

“Hi Dave!” John said with the emoticon ‘:B’ imprinted on his face perfectly. 

“Sup?” Dave rested his arm on Jade’s shoulder. 

“Why are you here so early?” John asked. “And where’s all your siblings?”

Dave had three siblings. Rose, Roxy, and Dirk. They were all looked over by their brother and Mom. They never knew their father. However, Rose and Dave weren’t siblings. And neither were Dirk and Roxy. They were cousins. But this whole family monologue that’s happening right now is getting way too confusing.

“At home. They’ll probably be here soon.”

As if on cue, three similarly-looking people walked up to them. 

Dave’s nice silence he had been enjoying not a minute earlier was completely ruined, thanks to his siblings and two of his best friends. He loved them but sometimes they got annoying. Dave hated these thoughts. 

When the bus finally arrived Dave sat with Jade and played his music and didn’t say a word. Jade was too busy talking with Jake, anyway. Jake was her older cousin, who was sitting in the aisle across with Roxy. 

After the bus reached its destination, Dave managed to shake his family and friends.

Dave stepped into the school building, shades over his eyes and hood over his head. His headphones hung around his neck, playing nothing. He casually leaned against his locker, not trying to be cool. It was natural, totally one hundred percent natural coolness all his peers were seeing right now. 

He pulled his hood down and scanned his surroundings. His eyebrows shot up as he saw his new best friend (decided after their last exchange) walk into the building. Karkat. He didn’t know his last name, yet. 

Dave walked up to the shorter male in a few long strides.

“Sup, Karkat,” he said, grinning. 

Karkat looked up at him with what looked like utter terror and confusion. He took a step back.

“Why are you talking to me?” He asked, slightly louder than what was necessary. He ran a hand through his jet black hair.

“I think you’re cool,” Dave answered, shrugging. 

“You don’t know shit about me,” and he had a foul mouth. Dave’s grin didn’t falter in the slightest. Why was he so interested in this loud kid that clearly wasn’t all that popular? If he were being honest with himself, Dave didn’t care about popularity or volume control. 

Karkat tried darting away from him again, to no avail. Dave flung his arm around Karkat’s shoulder.

“Don’t be like that,” he said. “What do you have for first hour?” 

Karkat flinched at the physical contact and immediately slithered away. 

“Uh...Health,” he mumbled. 

“Cool, I have art, they’re right next to each other.”

“I know how this school fucking works,” Karkat returning to his shouty demeanor in an amazingly short amount of time. 

Dave shrugged and walked with karkat to their classes.


	2. Lunch-time awkwardness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Kanaya are introduced to the whole strilonde family, plus the egharlcrocklishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I actually proof-read this one, woohoo. I also went back and made a few minor changes to the last chapter after realizing it's shitty-ness. Um, I couldn't resist putting Sollux into this. I swear, I can't write a single thing without putting him in somewhere. Uh yeah, remember to leave kudos and comments so I feel validated. I measure my self worth with that shit.
> 
> ~RM

Karkat sat in his third hour. His mind was clouded with thoughts of this Dave character. He tried his best to pay attention to what the teacher was saying, but he was never good at that in the first place.

He didn’t understand why Dave even thought he was “cool” to begin with. If Karkat was anything, it was obnoxious. He was reminded of that all the time. It may just be his low self esteem talking, but Dave could probably find much cooler people to hang out with. 

He glanced over at his sister seated next to him, goggling at a girl with blond hair and perfect posture. Karkat suddenly became aware of his slouching and sat up straight. 

Karkat could tell Kanaya wasn’t paying attention to the lesson either, like she usually does. His thoughts returned to Dave until the bell rang.

As Karkat was leaving the room to head over to the cafeteria, (speak of the devil) Dave came up behind him, quiet as fox. 

“Hey, Karkat,” he said. Karkat jumped and turned to face him.

“You scared the shit out of me! Ever considered wearing a bell?” He yelled.

“Haha, you’re cute,” Dave laughed. Karkat pushed him away and hid the redness spreading to his cheeks. 

“Shut the fuck up,” he wasn’t about to let this kid get him all flustered and shit. He didn’t even really know him at all. And yet, Dave was acting like they’d been friends for years. It was off putting. 

“Want to sit with me at lunch?” Dave asked, looking straight ahead.  
Karkat sighed and couldn’t believe his own answer.   
“Sure.”  
Karkat followed Dave to a table and let out quite the audible gasp when he saw who was sitting there. 

“Kanaya? What are you doing?” He asked his sister. She was sitting next to the same blonde girl with impeccable posture. Karkat didn’t notice until just now, but the girl and Dave looked eerily similar. 

“Oh! Karkat, this is Rose Lalonde. We met yesterday,” she explained. Karkat suddenly remembered what Kanaya said about the nice girl she met in English class. It all fit. 

“Hey,” he grunted, taking a seat next to Dave. 

“She’s my sister,” Dave said. Karkat let this information sink in. He noticed that, even though he just said they were siblings, they had different last names. 

“Karkat? You look tense. Is everything okay?,” Rose pondered. Karkat looked up at her and shrugged. 

“Fine. I love sitting with a bunch of people I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t classify two people as ‘a bunch’,” Rose lifted an eyebrow at him. He grunted in response. 

Suddenly, six new people sat themselves at the table. Karkat looked up. Two of them looked like Rose and Dave a bit. The other four looked similar to each other, as well. The two blonde ones (whom he was assuming were more Striders/Lalondes) sat next to each other. One of them was a girl with perfectly done hair and flawless makeup, yet the bags under her eyes were very badly hidden. The other was a male with the stupidest glasses Karkat had ever seen. His hair was also something that could be classified as stupid. His bright orange braces made it painfully clear that this kid was a nerd. The other four had black hair and dark skin. Two boys and two girls. The two boys looked outstandingly alike with short hair that stuck up in odd, yet adorable ways. They also both had glasses and teeth that were too big for their mouth. One of them was taller though, making it much easier to tell them apart. One of the girls had large round glasses that covered quite a bit of her face, dreadlocks tied back in a ponytail, and strings wrapped around her fingers. The other girl had a pixie cut and her glasses were also round, but covered less of her face. Suddenly what Rose had just said became completely false. Karkat wanted to leave the table immediately but Kanaya gave him a look that meant he wasn’t allowed to leave her alone with a bunch of strangers. 

“Oh! Who’re the new people?” the shorter dark-skinned boy asked Dave and Rose. 

“John, this is Kanaya and Karkat. Kanaya, Karkat, these people are John, Jake, Jane, and Jade. The two that look like Dave and I are Dirk and Roxy. We are siblings. Dave, Dirk, Roxy, and I, that is. John, Jake, Jane, and Jade are siblings with each other, as well,” Rose explained. 

Karkat nodded while Kanaya took it upon herself to shake hands with all of the new faces. He had always wished he had her social skills, even if they were forced most of the time. 

“We’re also brother and sister,” Kanaya stated with a smile. They all widened their eyes briefly, clearly hoping the siblings hadn’t caught it. They did. 

“Karkat, don’t you want to get some food?” Rose asked. 

He looked up from his twiddling thumbs to look at her.

“I’m not hungry.” 

“Me neither. Me and Karkat are gonna go to the library,” Dave said, standing and grabbing Karkat by the wrist and pulling him from the large group. 

Once they were safely in the hall away from any peers, Karkat asked Dave why they were going to the library. 

“We’re not. You just looked seriously uncomfortable back there,” Dave shrugged and let go of Karkat’s wrist. He looked up at his taller freckled friend. 

“Wow. Saving me two days in a row,” he sighed. He got a chuckle in response. 

“You’re welcome.”

~~~

Dave sat in the last class of the day, doodling on his packet. He looked down at his drawing and quickly erased the face of his newest shouty friend. This always happens when I meet new people, he convinced himself. This fact was false but he stopped thinking about it almost immediately. 

He stared at the back of Rose’s head until the end of class and tries to put all thought that pertained to Karkat far, far away. He failed. 

After the bell rang, Dave was attempting to navigate his way through a sea of hormonal teenagers when a tall boy came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around with outstanding speed and half-expected a beat down to occur. Instead he was met by a boy with pale skin and brown hair with stupid 3D glasses.

“Oh, hey Sollux,” Dave said, relieved.

“KK thaid you two were becoming friendth?” Sollux asked, without so much as a hello. His lisp was as lispy as ever, Dave noticed.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so. We only met yesterday,” he replied.

“That’th cool. KK doethn’t really have any friends exthept his thithter and me, tho that’th cool,” he explained. Was that true? Karkat only had two friends? Dave grew up with a fairly large family and a whole other family of friends right down the street. He was used to having people to talk to. 

“Yeah…” Dave always got uncomfortable having conversations with Sollux. He got uncomfortable conversing with anyone taller than him actually, excluding his Dirk and his other bro. Sollux fell under that category of “taller than him and not related to him” so Dave was currently looking for a way out of this conversation.

“Anywayth, I got to go,” Sollux said before scurrying away, using his long legs. Dave leaned against the wall a while, deciding it would be easier to wait for the mass to subside before finishing his venture to the outside. 

He couldn’t have been standing there for too long before a small somebody appeared next to him, startling him slightly.

“Why were you talking to Sollux?” Karkat asked. Strands of black hair fell over his brown eyes. 

“He said you told him we were practically bros for life and then he left,” Dave said, looking down at Karkat. He wore a black hoodie that was multiple sizes too big, same as yesterday. 

“That is a vast exaggeration and you disgust me,” Karkat told him. 

“Ouch,” Dave feigned injury by clutching the left side of his chest. “Words hurt, Kitkat.”

“If you ever call me that again I will kill you. I will cut a hole in your chest and rip out your insides and feed them to my cat.”

“Karkitty has a kitty? Holy shit, when are you going to invite me to your house already,” Dave questioned. Karkat rolled his eyes.

“I would rather die,” he groaned. “And I still don’t really know you? Or anything about you for that matter? Who are you, Dave Strider?”

Dave laughed and folded his arms.

“How about we get to know each other today? There’s this coffee shop I go to sometimes,” Dave stated. Karkat raised a brow in his direction. 

“Today? Uh…” It was a friday. Karkat had no homework, having done it all in class, and was free to stay out until ten at night. He shrugged. What was the worst that could happen? “Sure.”

“It’s a date,” Dave answered. Then he quickly added after seeing Karkat’s face, “figure of speech.”


	3. The hang-outs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Karkat chill all day together, since they are bros 4 lyfe.

Karkat lifted his head away from his phone that was hidden under the table to see Dave sit down, two cups of coffee in his pale, freckled hands. He handed Karkat one of the steaming hot cups and took a sip of his own.

“Isn’t that hot?” Karkat asked, seeing not a wince of pain come from the boy that just drank lava without even blowing.

“Extremely. I have a tolerance, though,” Dave answered, shrugging. Karkat scoffed at his douchey attitude.

Karkat returned to his cup and let out a thin wisp of air from his mouth to cool it down.

“So, Karkat, tell me about yourself,” Dave stated. Karkat looked up from his blowing and shrugged.

“Not much to tell.”

“Bullshit. Favorite color?”

“Gray.”

“Animal?”

“Crab.”

This continued for longer than either of them expected. Dave asked Karkat questions, Karkat asked Dave questions. By the time the two had got up to leave, the sun was threatening to set. 

“How long can you stay out?” Dave asked.

“About ten,” Karkat answered. 

He thought about how much he had told Dave. He wasn’t much of a sharer and very few people even knew he was a fan of crabs. Dave was suddenly in his top five friends, just like that. 

“Cool. Let’s go to my place,” Dave said, taking hold of Karkat’s wrist for the second time that day. Before Karkat could argue, he was being pulled by the second tallest guys he knew. Which meant that he walked extremely fast. 

“Don’t you have, like, a huge family?” Karkat asked, already getting nervous. 

“Nah. I mean, I live with six people and usually there’re a bunch of Egberts or Harleys or Crockers or Englishs running around, but it’s nothing to get too worried about. I have my own room and we can stay in there and play videogames or something,” explained Dave. Behind his cool words and shades, Karkat could tell he was somewhat uncomfortable. He didn’t know why, but it made Karkat less worried. He allowed himself to be pulled down the street until they reached a suburban home with trees in the yard and even a tire swing. 

Dave fished out a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door, a bit messily. 

“Everything okay, Dave?” Karkat asked, eyeing his slightly shaking hand.

Dave sighed and looked over at Karkat. “It’s just that...my house is kind of filled with swords and creepy puppets and a fuckton of knitting and Roxy always brings home stray cats so there’s probably a lot of cats and so many meddling teens and...I haven’t had a friend that wasn’t related to John over...ever?” He said very quickly.

“If you were uncomfortable with me at your house, why would you invite me?” Karkat wondered.

“No, that’s not it, It’s just kind of new but I wanted to hang out with you and here we are-” Dave was suddenly interrupted by none other than Rose Lalonde opening the front door.

“Dave, what are you-oh, hello Karkat,” she greeted them by stepping aside and letting the two in the house. 

When Karkat looked around, he knew what Dave meant. There was a pile of swords piled on the kitchen counter, the couch was almost nonexistent due to the holes in it, balls of yarn were thrown about all over the place, and the cats. There were at least half a dozen cats in that room alone. On the couch sat Dirk and Roxy, arguing about something or another. John and Jade sat on the floor in front of the couch playing what appeared to be Mario Kart. Before he could take in the rest of all there was to see, he was being pulled into Dave’s room. John or Jade didn’t even have the chance to say “Hi, Karkat!” in the same chipper attitude he had observed earlier. 

“You weren’t kidding…” Karkat said. “There are a lot of swords and cats.”

“Ha ha, yeah. Uh, what do you want to do?” Dave asked, sitting on his bed. 

Karkat looked around the room before answering his question. The first thing he noticed was all the red. The sheets, the thin curtains, the laptop. He had turntables in one corner, his bed in the other, and his desk in another. His walls consisted of multiple posters with references he didn’t get, two swords, and a shelf with numerous objects resting on it that he couldn’t see very well. Dave also had a string that attached from one wall to another with multiple photos on it. There were cords covering the floors, making it a bit harder to walk in fear of tripping on one. Dave’s interests that they had discussed over coffee were all here.

“It’s your house,” Karkat said, getting back to the question. 

The boy let out a long sigh. 

“We could cuddle,” Dave suggested with a smirk.

“What the fuck, no!” Karkat shouted. 

“Yo, keep your voice down, there's a shitload of people that could take whatever you say really weirdly,” warned Dave. This statement confused Karkat, so he ignored it.

Karkat walked over to the shelf attached to the wall. 

“What’s all this shit?” he asked.

“That’s my dead things collection.”

Karkat took a step back and gulped. Okay, weird, but okay.

He walked back and took a seat on the bed next to Dave.

“So…,” he said, staring at his reflection in the shades that covered Dave’s face.

~~~

Dave was suddenly all too aware of how cute this kid that was sitting next to him on his bed truly was. With his unruly mass of hair and deep, brown eyes and button nose and tiny frame. Suddenly, Dave felt like puking. His stomach was churning uncontrollably and he wasn’t a fan. The two teenage boys were extremely close and on Dave’s bed. He didn’t like what was going on here and the silence that they were holding was getting way too awkward. 

“Well! I’m gonna get some AJ. Want something?” Dave asked, standing up and stretching out his back. No more weird silence or uncomfortable closeness or sitting on Dave’s bed together. Mission accomplished. And besides, his throat was getting unreasonably dry.

“No thanks…” Karkat was trying to cover a blush again. He was so bad at that.

Dave walked out the door of his bedroom and made his way towards the fridge. He had to make his way around approximately thirty cats and even more shitty swords. He grabbed a glass and began pouring the nectar of the gods when he was interrupted by one of his siblings.

“Dave finally brought home a date,” Rose said, grin on her face. Dave almost dropped his delicious apple juice, but he didn’t. Tragedy averted.

“He’s not my date! We’re not dating,” Dave explained, somewhat loudly.

“Dave, you have never brought anyone home from school, ever. I think it’s safe to assume you like this boy,” stated Dirk. John was now laughing uncontrollably. His stupid, geeky laugh that Dave, will admit, never got tired of.

“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you,” he said, pointing to each kid individually. John has fallen over and it in a fetal position, literally rolling on the floor laughing.

“What did I do?!” Jade exclaimed, an innocent look spreading across her nerdy face. Dave walked backwards, squinting at his family as he made his way back to his room. 

“What was that?” Karkat asked when Dave arrived back in the sanctuary of his room. “I heard yelling.”

 

“Friendly sibling bickering,” Dave stated, matter-of-factly. “Wanna hear this sick beat I cooked up the other night?” 

Before they knew it, it was time for Karkat to take his leave. Before he could, Dave gave him a paper with letters sprawled across it in red ink. The letters formed words, like most letters do. This word was “TurntechGodhead”.

“What the fuck is this?” asked Karkat, taking the small piece of paper out of his hands.

“Chumhandle. You have pesterchum, right?” Karkat confirmed he did indeed have a pesterchum account and just said “I’ll message you” before scurrying out of the house like his favorite animal, the crab. 

Dave laid down on his bed, arms resting behind his head. He went over the day’s events in his head.

First, he took Karkat to a cafe, where they enjoyed a caffeinated beverage while they talked about their interests. Such a hang-out could be called “a date”. But he made it clear to Karkat before they went that it was not “a date”. But it certainly felt like one. 

After their somewhat enchanting not-date, they went back to Dave’s place. Where they sat on Dave’s bed and looked deeply into each other’s eyes for a good twenty seconds. If a person were to hear those words, he would have assumed the two were lovers. Dave and Karkat were not lovers. After that odd happenstance, they laid down on Dave’s bed and listened to the best music of the century through shared earbuds. Also, a very “romantic” thing to do. Dave did not mean it to be “romantic”. Dave had never been a “romantic” person and did not plan on starting with a small boy that yelled at him sometimes. However, that seemed to be where this was going.

Dave put his face in his hands and held in a scream. Dave Strider didn’t scream. That was not something he did.

It was all Karkat’s fault anyway. It was his fault he wasn’t popular at school, thus, resulting in his underwear replacing the flag. It was his fault he was so attractive and interesting and the perfect size for cuddling. 

He saw his binder that he had haphazardly stuffed under the covers of his bed, trying to conceal it from Karkat. He had taken it off under his shirt without him noticing, but kept his hoodie on as to better hide his breasts.

Even if Dave did have some feelings for Karkat, there was no way Karkat could feel the same way. In fact, he was pretty sure Karkat hated him, judging by the way he yelled and sweared at him from time to time. And Dave would have to tell him he was trans if they even started dating in the first place. He hasn’t told anybody except for his family, John, Jade, Jane, and Jake. He wasn’t good at having that conversation and the last thing he wanted to do was scare away his first real friend in years. 

Yes, Dave Strider has a crush on Karkat Vantas. No, he will never tell him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I switched up what Dave's room looked like only slightly. It should look a lot like his canon room. So, Dirk, Dave, Rose, and Roxy all live in a suburban-type house with Bro Strider, who works as a mechanic, and Mom Lalonde, who works as a writer and bartender. The two support the four children. Dave and Dirk are siblings. Roxy and Rose are siblings. The Lalondes and the Striders are actually cousins, but just call eachother siblings. It confuses everybody and it's great. I had fun writing the Strilonde household. Alright, if you liked the chapter, leave kudos and comments and stuff. I reply to any and all comments.
> 
> ~RM


	4. Party Animal Karkat Vantas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux has a party and things do not go well. Kanaya owns a minivan and is a soccer mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry folks this took about a month to get up. Not gonna bother with excuses. Probably only one more chapter but idk if you guys want more ill put more. leave comments to boost my self esteem and kudos to give me the illusion of accomplishment. trigger warning for alcohol. 
> 
> ~RM

Karkat and Dave have hung out everyday after school for the past multiple weeks. It was now the last day before a week-long break Karkat had been looking forward to since the beginning of the quarter. 

Karkat walked up the steps to the school and entered through the double doors, where he was immediately greeted by Dave resting his arm on Karkat’s shoulder. 

“Karkles, excited for the last day until break?” He asked with a sly smile on his extremely freckled face. 

“Fuck yes,” said Karkat simply. After the first day they spent together, he welcomed Dave’s long arm on his shoulder.

For after that day, Karkat was finally comfortable enough with saying that he had a crush on the boy. He told himself he would never say anything to Dave, ever. SInce there was a one in a billion chance that Dave would reciprocate those feelings.

“Haha, I know how you feel,” he answered. His laugh was something right out of a fairytale. It was sweet and always short but Karkat enjoyed every second that he got to hear it.

Throughout the next three periods, Karkat paid attention to the lesson for the most part. The rest of him couldn’t wait until lunch and kept checking the clock. He liked hanging out with Dave and he hated that he didn’t have any classes with him. 

So when his eyes weren’t on the board, they were on the clock. Until that clock hit lunch time and he darted out of the room to the cafeteria, where he met his best friend, sister, and seven other people. 

“Hey, Karkat,” Dave said. Dave never called him stupid nicknames unless it was a private conversation. He was extremely grateful for this.

He took his seat next to Dave and picked at the sandwich he made that morning while talking to Dave.

About half way through the lunch period, Sollux appeared. They were all surprised to see him, but he was greeted very positively by John, Jade, Jane, and Jake. 

“Hey, guyth. I’m having a party on Thaturday. Come over if you want,” he said, his poker face not leaving for a second. 

Karkat processed this information in his head. Sollux was never one for parties. In fact, he’s heard Sollux say he hated them. He assumed it was his new boyfriend that convinced him to have one in the first place. They all nodded and John and Jade said “Yeah!” to show that they comprehended his statement before he walked away to sit back down with a bunch of theater kids. 

About three minutes later, Dave and Karkat left the table to talk in private, like they usually do everyday.

“Are you going to Sollux’s party?” Dave asked, hands in his pockets. 

“Fuck no. I’m practically allergic to parties,” said Karkat.

“What if I came with you?” 

He looked up at Dave. It was true, Dave made him feel more safe in social situations. And he could tell when Karkat was uncomfortable in them. He’s also been over to Sollux’s house on multiple occasions, what made this one different?

“Uh...sure,” he answered. 

So that’s how Karkat Vantas found himself picking out clothes carefully for the first time in his life. Kanaya sat his in bed next to him, making sure what he picked out didn’t look horrendous. If there was anything Kanaya was the master at, it was fashion. Of course, she was good at multiple things, fashion being only one of them. 

“Uh...this?” Karkat asked, holding up another gray shirt. 

“You know what, Karkat? How about I just pick out what you are going to wear?” He knew this wasn’t really a question, more like a command of sorts. So he sat down and just put on what was tossed in his direction. 

He emerged from the bathroom wearing a gray, faded shirt and a black jacket over that. He had gray jeans that ended in black converse. 

“That’s the best I can do on such short notice. Now, let’s go,” Kanaya said. She was the only one with a car so she promised she would pick up Dave, Rose, Roxy, Dirk, John, Jade, and Jane. Jake stayed home with the flu. Roxy, John, Jade, and Jane came because they love parties and meeting new people. Dirk came because he was actually fairly good friends with Sollux. Rose was Kanaya’s date, and Dave came to make sure Karkat was okay. 

Kanaya had a minivan so there were almost enough room for everyone. Only one person wouldn’t fit. When they got to the Strilonde house, everybody piled in. When Karkat made the observation that there wasn’t enough room in the van, Dave spoke up.

“Just sit in my lap, bro,” he said. Karkat looked at him with disgust on his face.

“No! That’s illegal, I’m pretty sure,” shouted Karkat.

“I don’t think Kanaya’s gonna get pulled over. Just sit on my lap,” he retorted. 

After a few more minutes of bickering, Karkat ended up on Dave’s lap. The ride there was generally quiet. When they got to Sollux’s house, they got out of the car and it looked like something right out of a cartoon. 

“Kanaya, you own a minivan, not a buth,” Sollux pointed out. “Or a clown car.”

~~~

Dave stood in the corner of the loud room with Karkat standing beside him. They didn’t exchange a single word. Both of them had their phones out. They were even tagging each other in posts on tumblr. 

They were perfectly comfortable standing there all night, giggling to themselves about vines and bad memes. But fate had other plans for them. 

Sollux walked up to them, holding hands with his boyfriend, Eridan. 

“Hey guyth. Why are you being tho quiet right now? Itth a party,” Sollux told them, slightly inebriated. Dave could tell when someone was drunk, having lived with at least three drunks at one point. He didn’t know there was alcohol at this party. He began scanning the crowd for his two sisters, extremely worried. When he saw both of them with Dirk, he calmed down.

“Sollux, you know I fucking despise parties,” said Karkat. 

“Bullshit. Come on and mingle!” Eridan said before pushing Karkat into the group of people where he seemed to disappear. Dave’s eyes widened behind his shades.

“Dude, what the fuck! He just said he doesn’t like parties!” Dave shouted over the music before darting into the crowd to find his friend. 

“Karkat!” he called. He was taller than practically everyone in the crowd, which gave him an advantage.

It took him a good few minutes to find Karkat and pull him out of the packed crowd. How did Sollux know so many people? How did he fit this many people into his house? As soon as Karkat got out of the crowd, he darted up the stairs before he could make sure he was okay. Dave followed close behind him. 

“Karkat!” he shouted after him, passing multiple couples furiously making out. It was almost irritating how similar this house party was to the type of shit in movies. “Wait up!”

Dave saw Karkat enter a room and when Dave caught up to him and peered inside, there was no trace of the boy except for an open window. He sighed and peered out. He looked down and then up and saw feet eerily similar to his own Karkat Vantas’.

So Dave pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose and began climbing out the window to the roof. He sat beside Karkat and felt the slight breeze blow through his platinum blonde hair.

“Didn’t skip a beat, huh? Just climbed up here like some sort of spider-monkey,” he said after getting tired of the silence.

“I’m really sorry, Dave. Just go back down and socialize,” Karkat mumbled.

“Fuck that. I wanna make sure you’re okay. That’s basically the whole reason I came to this shit fest.”

Karkat swung his feet and twiddled his thumbs.

“I shouldn’t have come. It’s not like anybody here likes me or even wants me anywhere near them, for fucks sake,” Karkat sighed.

Dave lifted his head and looked at his smaller friend. He watched the way his black hair moved in the breeze and the way he bit his lip obviously trying to hold back some sort of meltdown. Dave felt sorry for him.

“Kitkat, you know that’s not true,” he tried reassuring him.

Karkat lifted his head and looked up at the sky that was growing darker. He had a slight smile on his face.

“I wish I believed you,” he said. 

Dave put his head back down focusing on his own lap. He swallowed.

“Karkitty, there’s something you need to know.”

Now or never, Strider.


	5. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff actually happens. Karkat and dave hang on a roof and have a heart to heart and they also hang on the couch.

Karkat looked over at Dave, holding back tears. God, he was so gross. 

“Yeah?” He asked. 

Dave took a deep breath. He ran a hand through his straight hair and swallowed. Karkat’s eyes changed from slightly wet and depressing to curious.

“Man, this is so embarrassing. I mean, I walk and talk like the coolest kid on the planet, which I am, but I can’t even tell my crush I like him,” he paused. “I-uh-”

“Dave, stop,” Karkat shook his head.

“What?”

“You don’t have to do this just because you pity me. Just stop,” he sighed.

“I-what? You think I’m saying this because I feel sorry for you right now? Really? Karkles, I’m not fucking lying. I would never do that,” Dave said, removing his shades and resting them on his head. 

“I…” Karkat looked away from Dave’s face. His eyes were way too sincere. He couldn’t be sincere about this. It wasn’t possible. “I don’t believe you.”

Dave shook his head. 

Before Karkat could say anything else, Dave pushed his mouth against the other boy’s. He rested a hand on the back of his neck and the other cupped his cheek. Karkat gasped into the kiss, not returning it, though. Dave was so gentle. 

When he pulled away, Dave started getting up. 

“I...I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I’ll go.”

“Wait,” Karkat stopped him, and pulled into a hug. He wrapped his short arms around Dave’s torso and squished his face against his chest. After a few short moments, he felt Dave’s much longer arms wrap around his shoulders.

“Believe me, now?” laughed Dave. His shirt was incredibly soft. Karkat wanted to stay just like this forever, standing on the roof of one of his best friend’s house.

“...sure,” Karkat replied, closing his eyes. He felt Dave’s head rest on top of Karkat’s. 

“Are you ready to go back downstairs?” 

Karkat shaked his head vigorously.

“Yeah, no, that sucked,” Dave said, sitting all the way back down. 

They sat like that for basically the rest of the party. Roxy eventually went looking for them and immediately began making fun of them. They crawled down and left the Captor household.

~later that day~

 

Karkat sat in his pajamas, trying to remember the exact texture of Dave’s shirt.

Kanaya eyed him with a slight smile on her face.

“What got you finally smiling?” she asked, sitting down on the other side of the mattress.

“Nothing…” He trailed off, falling onto his side. 

~~~

Dave sat on his couch, an arm wrapped around a small boy, also known as Karkat, also known as his boyfriend. They were watching some sitcom on the tv.

He could feel something get caught in his throat. His forehead was getting moister by the second. He swallowed.

“Dave, what is up with you?” Karkat asked, looking up.

“Uh...what do you mean, Karkles?” Dave replied. 

“You’ve been sweating profusely, it’s disgusting and getting all over me.”

Dave laughed nervously. 

“I guess I just love you so much it’s leaking out of me,” he shrugged.

“That’s repulsive and also bullshit,” Karkat said, moving away to face Dave. “Tell me what’s up, asshole.”

Dave stayed silent for a few moments before standing up and saying “I’m gonna get some juice. Want some?”

“No, you fucking pussy, tell me or I’ll leave.”

Dave stood in front of him for a few more seconds before collapsing next to Karkat and wrapping his arms around his waist. He rested his head on his shoulder and kissed his ear. Karkat wiggled away and jumped on top of him. Dave giggled.

“I’m not fucking joking, dickwipe. Spit it out,” Karkat answered.

Dave let out the longest and loudest sigh yet. 

“...I don’t have a dick.”

“What?”

“I’m transgender.”

Karkat turned his head to the side for a second before rolling off of Dave’s lap.

“Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me,” Karkat said, leaning back on Dave’s shoulder and returning his attention to the television screen.

Dave looked down at Karkat for a second with a stunned expression on his face. It was soon replaced with an expression of satisfaction. Good answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM DONE. i think ill take a break from davekat for a while. Move onto bigger, brighter pastures. uh sorry i took such a long hiatus again. i went on a vacation blah blah you dont care. this is the last chapter. also the scene with the trans stuff was based on how i would want my so to react to my transness. i know, its different for everybody and shit and if youre if unhappy with how i did that, write your own piece of garbage. ok see ya. bye. its been real.


End file.
